Two Minute Drill (Bases Loaded Jam Series #2)

Ch. 3: Blindside (Gordon)

By the time I arrived to Florida, the students, administrations, coaches, and faculty were excited to have me on their campus. They had heard a lot about me since I had won a state championship. While none of them had seen me play in person, my accolades and achievements were too much for them to pass up on me. When I made the announcement to join Florida, they were so excited for my arrival.

Granted, I had to make an adjustment moving from Texas to Florida. I had to get use to the climate and the people there. Someone told me that Floridians were pretty weird and crazy. I guess it had to do with the beaches they had there that made them the way they were. But once I got there, the people were very nice and treated me with respect. The first day I was on campus for school, I was late for every class because people wanted to take pictures with me and ask for my autograph. One student even invited me to a party off campus. I probably should've considered a different plan for that night.

While nothing major or controversial happened as far as I was concerned, I managed to stay out of trouble although some women wanted me for extracurricular activities that have nothing to do with football. Still, I made sure not to cause any trouble that would've resulted in the end of my career. Yet, the only punishment I got the next day was running up and down the steps at Florida's football stadium by my coaches.

Despite my unfortunate start, I worked my way back to the good graces of the coaching staff and soon was competing for the starting job. There were only three guys ahead of me and all of whom were good. We're talking about state champions and five star recruits in that position. I knew they would be a challenge in competing.

Yet, during the preseason practices, I was able to outplay everyone of those guys. All the upperclassmen were impressed. All, except for the three quarterbacks. I could understand their feelings. They had been with the team for a few seasons while I was a freshman outplaying them. Why should they respect me when I haven't done anything on the field just yet?

I knew that at best, I would be a third-stringer to start the season. That's the backup to the quarterback that's backing up the starting quarterback. This meant my chances of seeing the field were about the same as me living on the moon. So, I was okay with learning the game at first in case I did become the starter. Little did I know that opportunity came sooner than I expected.

I was number four on the depth charts for the position. But then, I got promoted to third string as soon as the guy in front of me was inconsistent in practices. Then, the backup quarterback suffered a torn hamstring and was slated to miss the whole season. So by the time we took the field for my first ever collegiate game, I was number two behind our starter, James Howard.

Howard was expected to be among the best players hoping to win the Heisman trophy for this season. If it hadn't been for a late loss to Alabama a season prior, Florida might've won the Southeastern Conference and played for a chance at a National Title. But still, Florida was expected to be really good this season.

I watched as James Howard started our first two games and showed everyone why he was among the favorites to win the Heisman. The first two games were against cake walks of teams below us and we had easy wins. I got a chance to play in those games and played well. But the opportunity to start to eluded me.

Then, came the third game. It was a nationally televised game against LSU at their place. Once again, I sat on the bench and watched James Howard play. He was awful in the game. He threw three picks by the end of the half and we trailed 21-3. I remember our coach berating the offense for how they were playing. I wasn't playing, but it felt like coach was attacking me for not being able to light us up.

As the second half started, James led us down to score and we cut the lead to 21-10. We surprised the Tigers and recovered an onside kick. But the first play of our next drive ended horrifically. I can't bear to tell you what I saw. One minute, the defense swarmed James. The next minute, he was down and holding his leg. I knew what was happening. James was hurt and I was in.